The most satisfying aspect of tracing the ancestors is discovering the stories that surround the history. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are packed with compelling sagas of challenging risks. Our ancestors began their treacherous journey across the seas to the American shore, often beset with storms while navigating through the region of the Bermuda Islands. There are multiple accounts of shipwrecks, losses, and delays. With more shipwrecks per square mile than anywhere else, Bermuda, once known as the Devil’s Isle, is known as the shipwreck capital of the Atlantic. But the seas were not the only danger, as rats onboard ships caused sickness. Diseases and epidemics of the 19th century caused epidemics of smallpox, typhus, yellow fever, and scarlet fever. At least 25 major outbreaks plagued Americans during the 18th and 19th centuries, including cholera.
Great information for Family Historians.